Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury, London

Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury, London

J. D. Mack

When I visit London, I usually stay in Bloomsbury, a neighborhood of stately 19th century row houses and quiet squares, full of landmarks recalling the many intellectuals, artists and writers who once lived there. Bloomsbury gave its name to a colorful circle of artists and thinkers, including biographer Lytton Strachey, artist Duncan Grant and economist John Maynard Keynes, who started gathering there about 1904 at the home of four orphaned siblings, Thoby, Adrian, Vanessa and Virginia Stephen. The Bloomsbury Group, as it's now called, was held together chiefly by the Stephen sisters, better known by their married names: Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf. -- Susan Spano Read more: In London's Bloomsbury, the artistic legacy of two strong-willed sisters Upper photo: A street in Bloomsbury Lower left photo: Venessa Bell. Credit: Ottoline Morrell Lower right photo: Virginia Woolf. Credit: Associated Press

When I visit London, I usually stay in Bloomsbury, a neighborhood of stately 19th century row houses and quiet squares, full of landmarks recalling the many intellectuals, artists and writers who once lived there. Bloomsbury gave its name to a colorful circle of artists and thinkers, including biographer Lytton Strachey, artist Duncan Grant and economist John Maynard Keynes, who started gathering there about 1904 at the home of four orphaned siblings, Thoby, Adrian, Vanessa and Virginia Stephen. The Bloomsbury Group, as it's now called, was held together chiefly by the Stephen sisters, better known by their married names: Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf. -- Susan Spano Read more: In London's Bloomsbury, the artistic legacy of two strong-willed sisters Upper photo: A street in Bloomsbury Lower left photo: Venessa Bell. Credit: Ottoline Morrell Lower right photo: Virginia Woolf. Credit: Associated Press (J. D. Mack)

When I visit London, I usually stay in Bloomsbury, a neighborhood of stately 19th century row houses and quiet squares, full of landmarks recalling the many intellectuals, artists and writers who once lived there. Bloomsbury gave its name to a colorful circle of artists and thinkers, including biographer Lytton Strachey, artist Duncan Grant and economist John Maynard Keynes, who started gathering there about 1904 at the home of four orphaned siblings, Thoby, Adrian, Vanessa and Virginia Stephen. The Bloomsbury Group, as it's now called, was held together chiefly by the Stephen sisters, better known by their married names: Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf. -- Susan Spano Read more: In London's Bloomsbury, the artistic legacy of two strong-willed sisters Upper photo: A street in Bloomsbury Lower left photo: Venessa Bell. Credit: Ottoline Morrell Lower right photo: Virginia Woolf. Credit: Associated Press